


Boyfriends

by auselysium



Category: Holby City
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Sort Of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-10 17:50:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12304437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auselysium/pseuds/auselysium
Summary: A loss of a special patient on Keller brings Dom and Lofty even closer together





	Boyfriends

Dom finds him in the on-call room, fast asleep on top of the blankets with his trainers still on.

He’s not seen Lofty like this before: curled on his side, his hands clasped and tucked beneath his head. Defenseless and unwound. A wave of affection catches him as Dom gently shuts the door behind him.

 _Haven’t seem him like this yet_ , Dom corrects himself.

It’s all still quite undefined between them, a gradual revealing of emotions. But their intentions are clear, the ultimate culmination in sight and they are both happy to make their slow way there together.

Dom sits on the edge of the cot. “Lofty,” he says, gently. No reaction. “Lofty,” he repeats louder. The increased volume of his voice does nothing to rouse him. Lofty is sleeping the sleep of the truly exhausted. He touches Lofty’s arm lightly, not wanting to startle him. He runs his hand over his warm skin, coming to rest of his shoulder, giving it a gentle shake.

With a grimace and a muffled groan Lofty rolls onto his back. He cups Dom’s elbow as he does, a move that is both instinctive and casual and does not go unnoticed by Dom’s still cautious heart.

His eyes blink open.

“What time is it?” He asks, rubbing at his eyes with thumb and forefinger.

“Not quite 7.”

“Shit,” Lofty says, sitting quickly. “I only meant to lay down for a bit.” He checks his phone, clearing away Dom’s many messages with a swipe of his thumb.

“Well, you obviously needed it.”

“Have you been here all night?”

“No, I left around 1.”

It had been an all hands-on-deck kind of procedure. The patient, just this side of 18 that she hadn’t been treated by pediatrics, was a testament to a challenging life being lived to the absolute fullest. The Keller team had prepped for weeks, everyone knowing just how incredibly complicated a procedure this was going to be. The staff, the patient and her remarkably strong parents had all known the risks.

And they’d all known that sometimes risks don’t pay off.

As much as Dom’s back and shoulders are a mess of knots from the hours he’d stood in theatre, he knows his pains are petty and will fade in a day or two. Whatever he feels, pales in comparison to the heartbreak the girl’s family is facing as the new day breaks.

Or to how hard Lofty will take the news.

Lofty and the girl - Emma - had shared a close bond, dating back to his days in the ED. She’d come through that department countless times throughout her life. Always bright, always hopeful even through her pain.

In the few days she’d spend at Holby leading up to the procedure, she’d won everyone around and she and Lofty had become even closer, spending quiet times between pre-surgery testing chatting and laughing. He’d helped her feel at ease, like this massive procedure was nothing to fear even though everyone was on edge. That kind of patient/carer intimacy was something Dom had initially disliked in Lofty, finding it too unprofessional. But that was only until he’d realized that Lofty simply can’t help himself. He is too inherently kind not to care _that_ much.

Essie had called him about an hour ago with the news and when his messages to Lofty had gone unanswered, he’d known he’d find him still here at Holby. Which is why Dom had come back, dragging himself out of bed too early after not nearly enough, fitful sleep. Now that he and Lofty were...whatever they were to each other, he needed to be the one to tell him. He owed it to Lofty. And to Emma.

“Were they ever able to get Emma’s pressure down?” Lofty asks but even as the words leave his mouth he sees the pained look in Dom’s eyes and knows.

“She coded around 3,” Dom says as gently as he can. “They worked on her for hours, even had Jac go in...but, they called time of death just after 5.”

Lofty exhales, swinging his legs off the bed to sit shoulder to shoulder with Dom. He takes the news silently, his eyes empty.

Now while Emma’s death has hit all the staff on Keller especially hard, Dom feels the sting of loss on a clinical level (What could they have done differently? Where could they have made a different choice to affect the outcome? Did they miss something along the way while in surgery? In recovery?) Lofty feels it to his core. Sympathetic to a fault, Lofty imagines himself in everyone’s shoes that knew Emma: the parents who have lost a child, the younger brother who won’t understand why she hasn’t and won’t come home, the friends at school who will never see her again.

Dom watches the desolation play across his handsome face. It’ enough for Dom to feel the bite of tears in his eyes too.

“You ok?” He asks, around the thickness in his throat.

“Her poor parents,” Lofty says and Dom begins to rub circles on his back. “I should go see them.”

He makes a move as if to stand but Dom stills him with two hands to his shoulders. “They’re still with her. Give ‘em time.”

Lofty nods, the tension slipping back out of his body. Dom isn’t quite sure what to say as nothing can really make it better.

“Sometimes I think this job asks too much,” Lofty says, his voice hoarse and quivering. “But thank you.”

He turns to Dom, eyes glassy but full of such gratitude that it nearly knocks Dom backwards. “For what?” he manages.

“For telling me, for just... being here. It’s such a relief, you knowing what it’s like to work here. Knowing that I don’t have to explain. I’ve never had that before with a...”

“Boyfriend,” Dom finishes when Lofty stalls, realizing he talked himself into a corner.

“Never had one of those, full stop,” he says, a smile tugging at the corner of Lofty’s mouth. He considers Dom for a moment. “Is that what we are, then? Boyfriends?”

This hadn’t been Dom’s intention coming here this morning, by any stretch of the imagination. But now that they’re here, it seems as good a time as any. After all, this is part of their job too - not letting their personal lives end with a patient's. It may seem uncaring or harsh, but it’s the only way to survive.

So Dom takes Lofty’s hand between his, gives him a boyish grin and says, “I’d like to be, yeah.”

“Me too,” Lofty replies.

Their kiss is quick but sweet, morning soft and weary. Still, it leaves both men smiling, a bit of giddiness to help with the grief.

Lofty’s stands and begins collecting his things.

“As much as I hate to say this, I have another shift in half an hour. MIght just have time to catch a shower and get some food…”

“Nope,” Dom says, getting up too. “Hansen called in last night before I clocked off. He’s given all of us the day off. To recuperate.”

“Really?”

“Yep. You and me have a date with some fancy coffees and a Parks and Rec marathon in our pj’s.”

“That sounds perfect,” Lofty says, a relieved smile on his face.

“And I don’t know...Maybe we can pay our respects on our way out?”

Lofty steps in close, his hand sliding from Dom’s waist around to his back. This kiss is longer, more serious. It’s full of every blossoming emotion Dom hopes he’ll be given the chance to feel with Lofty.

When Lofty pulls back, the look in his eyes tells Dom that he will.

“That sounds perfect, too.”

 


End file.
